As I think about July 4th, I think about all the history of those days. I think of the people whose lives were made harsher as tyranny increased. I think about how the founding fathers grew more and more impatient with the conditions that they found themselves. I think about the things they wrote and said and did during that time. It makes me wonder, what did it really take to get them to take the steps they did? What made them cross the line of self-interest and complacency and decide that they could not live that way anymore?

When they did, everything changed. Their allegiance changed. Their reputations changed. Their futures changed. Some gave all. All risked everything. For them, it was worth it!

I think of how that parallels our journey with Jesus. At some point, the tyranny of sin gets to us. We become aware that the ‘freedom’ that sin promises is not freedom at all. It is slavery. We are not self-determined individuals. We are trapped. As we acknowledge our trapped state, it becomes unbearable for us. It disgusts us. We begin to consider God’s better way. We begin to consider the way of life in Jesus. True freedom becomes our aim. Christ’s freedom becomes worth our everything.

Are you there yet? Are you at that place that says that you will forsake everything in order to know the freedom of Jesus? If not, what will it take to push you over the edge? What will it take to get you sick of the trap of sin? Will complacency always win?

If you have already come to that place, do you find complacency creeping back in? The only way to stay free is permanent vigilance! Are there little lies that sin is telling you that are lulling you back into slavery? Resist. Throw off those chains! Let us remember our freedom and live in Jesus.